New Delhi, Sept. 2 : Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will undertake a three-day official visit to India at the invitation of External Affairs Minister from September 7-9,2008.

Foreign Minister Yang will be visiting Kolkata and New Delhi.

In Kolkata, he is scheduled to formally inaugurate the Consulate General of People''s Republic of China.

In New Delhi, he will hold delegation level talks with the External Affairs Minister and will call on the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Foreign Yang''s visit to India follows a similar visit to Beijing undertaken by Mukherjee in June 2008.

New Delhi, Sep 2 : Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil will be visiting Orissa on Wednesday for an on the spot assessment of the situation in the violence-hit areas of the State.

He will also discuss the situation with the representatives of the State government in Bhubaneswar. Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal also visited the State recently.

The Union Home Secretary and other senior officers of the Home Ministry have been in close touch with the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and other senior officers of the State.

New Delhi, Sep 2 : A high-level central team headed by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar on Tuesday visited flood-hit areas of Bihar to assess the situation there.

The National Crisis Management Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary, reviewed the flood situation on Monday, and it was decided that he would lead a high-level team for on-the-spot assessment of the devastation.

The Centre continues to extend all possible assistance to the Bihar Government for supplementing their efforts in managing the flood situation.

New Delhi, Sept. 2 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today appealed to the UPA Government to change the way it dealt with natural calamities like floods and earthquakes.

In a letter written to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, BJP President Rajnath Singh said that the existing stipulation that Members of Parliament are not allowed to use MPLAD funds outside their constituencies should be relaxed as a special case.

New Delhi  - Indian markets closed on a high Tuesda